sandile ngcobo
Images by Ashley Vlotman/Gallo
The Blitzboks reached the Sydney Sevens semi-finals after topping Pool B and then beating Ireland in their quarter-final clash on Saturday.
Blitzbok coach Sandile Ngcobo was full of praise for his charges after the day’s efforts, which saw a marked improvement over Hamilton the week before, something he was quick to notice.
“After Hamilton, everyone agreed that we can’t be happy with those performances and that we needed to step up and represent the badge and everything it stands for with everything we had,” he said.
“The guys did that today and I’m very proud. Today’s performances were for everyone who contributed to this effort and also for the injured players, guys like Selvyn Davids who returned home, Siviwe Soyizwapi and Ryan Oosthuizen who were injured here. .
“This performance also represented the boys at home in Stellenbosch, and it was nice to see the effort. I’m very proud.”
Ngcobo said that the way the players implemented the plan for each match was exactly what the coaching staff asked them to do:
“We reminded them about the system and how it nullifies any individual effort, and we saw it out there.
“Defending like we did against New Zealand with six players on the field showed that the guys took it personally and trusted each other. That’s one of the main ingredients of our system.”
After losing at the quarter-final stage in Hamilton last week, Ngcobo said it was imperative his team got off to a good start against Ireland.
“We wanted to score first and keep the pressure on from there, and that’s how it worked out,” said Ngcobo.
“We have a really good mix in the team right now, and that helps our execution. The veteran players on the team are very experienced and keep things together, while the younger players bring enormous energy, and we got the rewards of that.” .
“I told the youngsters to go out there and play their game, which is why they chose them and they responded very well.”
Regarding the semi-final against Fiji, Ngcobo said it would be important for the players to rest well and come back with the same mindset that highlighted their performances on Saturday.
The semi-final against Fiji will be on Sunday at 07:28 SA time.
New Zealand and France will play the other semifinal.
